Tipperary Councillor Marie Murphy is encouraging people to participate in an ongoing survey about the management of Wild Deer in Ireland.
The Cllr is also asking the MD Council to make a submission to the Department of Agriculture survey.
The exact deer population in Ireland is unknown – a total of 55,008 deer were reported to have been culled by hunters last year.
Those killing deer are required to report the county, sex and species of deer killed.
The Deer Commission reports that 4,770 wild deer were culled in County Tipperary.
The highest figure reported is for County Wicklow with 15,280 deer culled last year.
The Commission says a more strategic approach is required with a focus on managing numbers of female deer.
Cllr Murphy is concerned about road safety incidents and damage to agricultural crops.
The councillor reports meeting 18 deer on the roads near Clogheen last week in three separate incidents but says areas such as the Glen of Aherlow and Dundrum are also suffering from overpopulation.
The Deer Commission of Ireland is concerned that the Department Survey is not based on a scientific approach to deer management and says that the group managing the survey lacks deer experts.
The survey closes on February 10th and can be found here Public input will be used to devise a National Deer Management Strategy.
